FAQ's


How Is ASST Different From Other Martial Arts?

We don’t consider ASST an “art” – we think of it more as disaster preparedness. Most traditional martial art systems prepare you for an idealized situation, where both combatants understand the rules and are more or less willing to stick to them. It’s a great way to perfect skills and techniques, but not necessarily the best way to get ready for the overwhelming nature of a real assault. Real world street fighting can be scary, chaotic and overwhelming. It’s often hard to think straight or have enough coordination to throw a solid punch, let alone have the ability to use complicated physical techniques. So, our goal is to prepare you for the worst-case scenario by actually training you in that environment.

The ASST method also allows you to learn and apply effective self defense skills in a remarkably short period of time. Because you are in the grips of a real adrenaline rush when you train, you bypass the cognitive, higher functioning portion of your brain and literally train skills and techniques directly into your muscle memory. The result is like riding a bike – you felt completely overwhelmed the first time you tried it, but your body will never forget how to do it! Granted, our goal is not to produce fighters with perfect form or beautiful technique, but we are confident that the skills you will practice in ASST, as scrappy as they might look, may just save your life someday!

Real world assaults are unpredictable and ever changing, so that’s the way ASST is trained. From the verbal boundary setting to the authentic adrenaline rush to the full-force, full-speed techniques delivered to vital targets, it’s clear that this training falls outside the traditional martial arts paradigm. That being said, ASST can offer an amazing opportunity for those who do train a traditional art to see what skills and techniques will and won’t hold up under stress and chaos. It can be an educational and enlightening experience. Most martial artists report that ASST allowed them to take their existing training to a whole new level!

Why The Emphasis On Verbal Skills?

We believe that in most real world confrontations words are the most effective first line of defense. Knowing what to say and how to say it can make the difference between a confrontation becoming violent or not. Unfortunately, when fear, anxiety and adrenaline take over during a crisis, it’s often very difficult to communicate clearly and effectively. You need to practice verbal skills ahead of time, just like you practice your physical techniques.

We’ve all been told to “talk your way out of a fight” whenever possible, but until you’ve actually tried to do it under stress, you don’t really know how well you might do. The verbal portion of our courses are designed to give you a chance to find out. Through a series of verbal drills and exercises, you will experiment with different types of boundary setting and negotiation techniques to see what will and won’t work in the real world.

This portion of the program is often regarded as the most beneficial because the ultra-realistic verbal scenarios allow you to reenact many problematic situations that you may encounter in your everyday life. We generally focus on dealing with an aggressive or threatening stranger during the realistic scenarios, but the truth is that these same verbal skills can be used to effectively set boundaries with friends, family or troublesome co-workers as well. We call it the “trickle down theory”. Students practice setting verbal boundaries during these highly charged, worst case scenarios and then report back to us that they are having a much easier time dealing with everyday situations that used to cause them stress or aggravation!

We want you to be ready with your words because ASST stresses that fighting is the last resort. Talking your way out of a bad situation is always preferable to coming to blows and statistics show that an assailant will often flee if he encounters effective verbal resistance. Even if you know how to defend yourself physically, there is no guarantee that you will come away unharmed, so it’s important to choose your battles wisely and avoid them whenever possible.

What Physical Techniques Does ASST Use?

When you get overwhelmed with fear, anxiety and adrenaline, physical technique tends to break down quickly. The full-force, full-speed physical responses in ASST are designed with this in mind. Because the techniques are going to be used under the most stressful circumstances, it’s essential that they be simple and effective. We stick with a handful of techniques that generally employ large motions or “gross motor movements” because the body has a very hard time with subtlety or “fine motor skills” when experiencing an adrenaline rush.

The simple techniques we use were chosen because of their safety, effectiveness against the gear and because many who have lived through fights and assaults have reported that these were the techniques that actually worked when the heat was on. Some of these basic techniques include:

Eye jabs
Open palm strikes to the nose, chin and groin
Knee and foot strikes to the groin and head
Ground fighting and grappling

Obviously, there are myriad other techniques that could be very effective in a crisis. We are open to all styles and encourage improvisation, as we believe that real fights are unpredictable and ever changing. That being said, experience has shown us that during the adrenaline rush, many techniques are simply too hard to use, while others are too dangerous for both the student and the “mugger”.

Why Is Empowerment So Important?

The empowerment component is really what sets this training apart from other types of self defense. Realistic scenarios allow students to tap in to some of their deepest fears and concerns in a safe environment. By working through some of these issues with the help of the mock-assailant, students begin to understand how powerful they really are and that even if they have had some bad experiences in the past, they now have skills that can be used to save their lives, should they need to.

Feeling self-reliant can be transformational. Many students of this type of training say that learning these skills has literally changed their lives. Knowing that they don’t have to rely on someone else to protect them and that they now have the ability to set firm boundaries with everyone from family members to strangers on the street has opened up lives and given many people a new sense of strength and confidence.

Finding our “fighting spirit”, the feeling that we are worth defending is one of the main goals of the program. If a student can come away from the course having discovered more personal power, be it physical, verbal or emotional (and it is usually all three!!!), then they have given themselves a priceless gift that will stay with them for a lifetime.

What’s The Deal With The Protective Gear?

Some programs call it the “mugger” suit while others call it the “bulletman”. No matter what you call it, there’s no getting around the fact that this custom made protective gear looks like Mr. Potato Head on steroids! Designed and built-to-order by one of the originators of this training method, Mark Morris, this gear can comfortably withstand full force / full speed blows to the most vital targets. Critics have called it “bulky” and “slow”, but the truth is, while it may look that way, it offers a level of protection and maneuverability that is truly state of the art.

Commercially available protective gear works well for it’s designated purpose (law enforcement / baton training, sparring, etc.), but anyone who has received a full force blow to the head or groin knows that it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of protection for those areas. The ASST gear is specifically designed for maximum protection of those important targets. Its main components include a professional football helmet covered in 3 inches of varying densities of foam and a 2 layer “super groin protector” designed to dissipate and re-direct the force of groin shots.

We believe that students must be able to strike vital areas full force / full speed if they are to get a truly authentic fighting experience. While the gear does allow this, it’s not foolproof and simply putting it on doesn’t protect the wearer 100%. “Muggers” are required to go through rigorous training to learn how to use the suit safely. They must understand the limitations in order to use it as effectively as possible. For example: chokes are not possible because of the shape of the helmet and joint locks are simply too dangerous in full force, spontaneous scenarios. That being said, high kicks and falls can be easily executed, making martial art applications very dynamic!

How Can I Get My Own Protective Gear?

In order to obtain and safely use this specific protective gear used in ASST you need to commit to an instructor training program. The main reason for this is safety and protection for both the person in the gear as well as the student going up against the “mugger”.

There are only a few programs that offer this type of instructor training for the martial arts community (including R-A-W Power, F.A.S.T. Defense & RMCAT), as the majority of instructor certification programs are directly affiliated with existing women’s self defense programs. Becoming a certified ASST instructor requires a big commitment of both time and money, but it’s worth it! If you are sincerely interested in finding out more, please go to the “Instructor Training” page of this site for more information.

For more information please contact

Meredith Gold

Meredith@r-a-wpower.com